Annabeth's Test of Strength
by goldenstar93
Summary: Several years have passed since Percy met Annabeth yet some things still remain the same while others have changed. One uncertainty is whether Percy is a stronger fighter than Annabeth. Can Annabeth still beat him up or has Percy outgrown that? Mainly a fluff story that takes place during a date. Oneshot. Rated T to be safe.
**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson, sadly.**

"Hey I just had to help you shop today, Annabeth! Now you want me to cook?" Percy asked in disbelief.

"Women", he thought. "Why did they always want to do such pointless things? Instead of going shopping and now this, we could have been doing something cool. Like playing Capture the Flag with our friends. That would be way more fun for a date, in my opinion."

"I'm not asking you to cook, I'm asking you to help me open this jar! Our dinner is going to get ruined if you don't do it soon!" she said frantically.

She thought to herself, "Why was it so difficult to get Percy to behave? He's been growing up but he still acts like an immature brat, sometimes."

Almost immediately, she concluded reluctantly "I guess that's why I like him. Something about that playful, young attitude of his. He never seems to grow up."

She snapped out of it when the smell of burning food invaded her nose. She needed to get this open, fast!

"Come on Percy, don't you want to show me how strong you are?" she asked desperately, trying to appeal to his ego.

To her delight, it worked.

"Yeesh, let me show you how it's done, Annabeth", as he walked over.

Percy opened the jar with a little bit of effort.

"No need to thank me," he grinned. As much as Annabeth adored Percy, she hated that arrogant grin of his sometimes just like she hated his immaturity.

"I wouldn't be so confident if I were you, Jackson. I bet I could beat you in a real fight! "As soon as she said that, she grew embarrassed and looked away. She didn't really know if she could or not, since Percy had gotten a lot stronger since she first met him, but she had said that out of frustration and didn't give it any thought.

"Must be Percy rubbing off on me," she thought.

Percy just laughed but tried not to look so condescending. He realized that Annabeth was pissed and didn't want to make her any angrier.

"How can you, when you couldn't even open a jar?"

Annabeth thought desperately for a comeback and said, "First of all, I loosened it up for you. Second, there's more to a fight than just pure strength, you knucklehead."

Percy looked like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was Annabeth actually trying to antagonize him into a fight? Fighting a girl didn't really seem alright with him.

"Ok look, I don't want to hurt you..." he said.

"What, are you scared, Percy?" Annabeth teased. She then had an idea.

"Tell you what, if you win, we'll go and do something you want for our date. We can go play Capture the Flag or whatever game you want."

"How did y..."

"Because, Captain Obvious, it's been glued to your face all day! You think I haven't noticed how bored you are?"

"Sorry, Annabeth but I can't help it Shopping and all these other girly things! I'm surprised that _you_ like it!"

"Things change, Percy! I've grown up a bit and thank goodness for that, because at least one of us is mature!"

Percy fumed but said nothing. Annabeth felt a bit sorry for saying that and, getting back to the topic at hand, said, "Anyways, it's fine. We're going to spice things up a bit now! Let's see who's stronger!"

Remembering about what would happen if he won, Percy asked, "What if you win?"

Annabeth took some time to think about it. She didn't really know what she wanted.

"Maybe if other people knew how strong I was..", she thought. Continuing on this train of thought, she had an idea. She quickly ran upstairs to get something, then ran back down.

"I've been thinking. If I win, I want people to know I beat you. So, I got these." She pulled out 3 sets of ropes and showed them to Percy, who looked at her in confusion.

"When I win, I'm going to tie you up using these and get some of our friends over here to take a look at how I beat you. In fact, I'll make tying you up as part of the fight. In order for me to win, I have to tie you up, while you only have to pin me. Deal?"

Percy looked slightly nervous now. While he knew that Annabeth was a confident person, so much that her fatal flaw was hubris, Annabeth sounded way too sure of herself. She might have been able to beat him up when he was a little shrimp but he had been putting on some serious muscle and training over the past few years. He wasn't going to get scared. He smiled back at Annabeth and said, "You're on!"

They promised to make it a best out of one fight. No punching or kicking or other dirty tricks were to be allowed. They had to grapple until one of them pinned the other.

"One, two, three!" they said as they charged toward one another.

Although Percy had more strength by now, Annabeth was much more of a clever fighter. Knowing she couldn't take him head on, she decided her best tactic was to wear him down slowly. Provoking him to come get her, she dodged to the side every time he charged at her and even tripped him up a few times. As the fight went on, Percy was not only getting worn out, but getting frustrated, much like Annabeth was a few minutes ago. Annabeth smiled once she saw the anger on his face. It was going to be smooth sailing from there.

"Come on Percy, don't be so scared of a girl! Aren't you the great son of Poseidon?" she taunted. Percy made his final mistake, falling for her bait. He ran at her again but she swiftly rolled to the side. For a few seconds, Percy was unable to move, as he was completely exhausted. Annabeth, knowing she had the upper hand now, ran at him and tackled him to the ground. She was able to straddle and pin him there and she took out the ropes. Percy moaned in despair as he realized he was actually going to lose to Annabeth even with all his strength training. Not only that, but he was going to get tied up by her too!

"Come on, I give up! You win! Do you have to tie me up?" he begged.

"Yes, you dummy. Otherwise, people won't know that I beat you!" she laughed.

Annabeth managed to flip Percy over onto his stomach, since he was still too tired to struggle, and immediately grabbed Percy's wrist and tied the rope around it. She grabbed the other one and tied both his hands together. For extra humiliation on Percy's end, she tied his legs up as well, followed by tying his bound wrists and ankles together, essentially hogtying him.

Annabeth whooped and cheered. "Is poor Percy angry that he lost to little Annabeth?"

Percy was too embarrassed to speak but Annabeth continued gloating anyways.

"Looks like you'll have to do a lot more shopping with me from now on, unless you want me to beat you up again!"

Once Annabeth started to get bored of making fun of Percy, she said, "Alright Percy, remember our deal. I'm going to call our friends over to take a look at this."

Percy couldn't even begin to think about how shameful it would be to have people like Rachel, Glover and even Clarisse come and see him like this. He would probably have to move someplace far away where no one knew him. In a tone of voice that he was ashamed to hear, he begged "Annabeth, I'm sorry I was bored earlier but please don't let other people see me like this. I'll die of embarrassment!"

Annabeth thought it over. She certainly would love for their friends to see Percy like this and acknowledge her as the better fighter but she remembered that, like other children of Athene, her fatal flaw was hubris.

"If I get other people to see this, sure I would get some fun out of being acknowledged, but wouldn't that also just hurt my relationship with Percy?" she thought. Maybe there was something else she could do.

She thought back to one day when they were travelling together on a rather tough adventure that Percy didn't do so well in. Wanting to cheer him up, she poked Percy in the stomach and he gave out such a loud laugh. Annabeth wanted to tickle Percy more, just to see how ticklish he was, but she never found an appropriate time. She eventually forgot all about it until now. Now that he was tied up like this, it was the perfect opportunity to tickle him.

She said to Percy, "Ok, I won't let anyone see this."

Percy looked relieved at first but his expression changed when Annabeth suddenly started taking off his socks.

"Annabeth, what are you do...HAHAHAHAHA!"

Annabeth began raking her fingers across Percy's feet.

"I have to get some kind of reward, Percy!"

"NOO, ANNABETHAHAHAHAHA!" Percy tried to beg.

"If you didn't want me to tickle your poor wittle feet, you shouldn't have lost to a girl!" Annabeth stuck her tongue out at Percy while tickling his toes. "Now just stay still!"

"GOODDDD NOOOO!"

"None of the Gods can save you from the tickle monster. She's the strongest monster you'll ever face", Annabeth laughed wickedly while scratching at Percy's arches.

"IIIMM GGOIINGG TTOOO DDIIEEE HAHAHAHAA!"

Annabeth took her time tickling Percy's feet, trying to find out which spot would make him laugh the most. She felt like this made for a much better date than what they were doing an hour ago. Shopping and having dinner together was very romantic, but Percy was right. Sometimes, a little adventure, even on a date, never hurt anyone. Besides, she absolutely loved how Percy squirmed around, getting provoked by just the smallest touches.

Once she found his most sensitive area, she tickled it mercilessly, enjoying Percy's laughter.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Once she was satisfied, she stopped tickling him, letting him get a breather.

"You're lucky I'm only tickling your feet" she said, teasing him.

"Lucky? I'm going to kill yo...HAHAHAHA!" Annabeth ignored Percy's threats and resumed tickling his feet.

Percy felt like he was going to go insane for the first time in his life. And that was saying something for someone who had to fight the Titan King, watch his friends nearly get eaten by giants, and much more.

"HAHAHAHA, STOPP!"

It took a long time, since she was enjoying herself but finally, she stopped for good.

"Mmm, our dinner is ready! It smells so good, too!" she said as she smelled the food she was preparing. Percy sniffed the air and he agreed. "Annabeth really did a good job for this dinner. Maybe dating isn't so bad after all", he thought.

"Ok, let me go, so we can go back on our date."

Annabeth gave Percy a smirk. "That fight and tickle session _was_ our date, Percy! I had a lot of fun. Thank you so much for giving me the time of my life."

Percy looked at her desperately. "Come on, Annabeth, let me go. You can't just leave me here!"

Annabeth thought it over.

"So, will you please try and enjoy our dates from now on?" she asked.

"Yes!" he said without hesitation.

"How do I know you're not lying?" she inquired.

"Because compared to what just happened, I would take a normal date over that any day of the week", he half-joked.

Annabeth smirked and Percy, noticing this, continued.

"Besides, I don't want to get beat up by you again. It will take a while before I get stronger than you", he admitted.

Annabeth gently kissed Percy on the forehead and then, went over to his lips. Percy, was frozen in place by how good the kiss was, and didn't think he would be able to move, but he somehow was able to kiss her back.

Annabeth smiled at him. "Not bad, Seaweed Brain" as she went over to untie him.

"But you will never be stronger than me."


End file.
